AN: Hi, welcome! This is one I've been thinking about for a while. Figured I'd just go for it and post it. I have only one clarification to make; Cassiopeia is not just a female version of Draco. So, in a lot of ways, her backstory is a little bit different from Draco's, and her personality is different. You'll see, I'm only saying this because I don't want anyone yelling at me. I honestly don't love Draco as a character and so I created my own... variation of him (I also can't help writing about women, so here we are). Hope you enjoy it, thank you for reading!

Cassiopeia knew she shouldn't have come.

She generally avoided crowded events like this. But her sister, Orion—affectionately known as Rye—had convinced her to come. Cass had skipped her university graduation two years ago and Rye thought it was unacceptable for her to miss her master's degree ceremony as well.

So she was here. For her sister's sake. (And a little bit for her own sake). Cass diligently sat through the (extremely boring) ceremony, she went up on stage to receive her diploma and smiled for her sister's camera.

But she just couldn't relax. There was something... off. She could feel it in her bones.

She fidgeted in her seat, looking around at the faces in the crowd, and her anxiety grew. Until she couldn't take it anymore. She could feel her heart racing and she knew it was probably just her anxiety lying to her brain but she had to do something.

She slipped out the first chance she got. She headed for her building—wanting to feel the familiarity of it. The safety of it.

Luckily, the English department wasn't too far from the hall where the ceremony was being held. Cassiopeia speed walked all the way, uncomfortable shoes and all.

She opened the door to one of the common rooms and dropped into an armchair.

She should've listened to her instincts. She knew that. Her gut feelings were often correct.

She had let her guard down, and she knew it especially because she didn't even notice him until he knocked on the doorframe.

It was unbelievably jarring to see him there. Halfway across the world, in her university. Her city. Her graduation.

Harry Potter.

Cass was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her at first. Because it couldn't have been.

But it was him. The same lightning bolt scar, the same piercing green eyes, the same messy dark hair. He barely even looked older. He might as well have just come out of that court room where Cass saw him last.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. He seemed almost equally surprised to see her as she was to see him. Though clearly, he was here for her. All the way in Canada.

"Hello," he said awkwardly.

He really hadn't changed much, had he?

Dread pooled in Cassiopeia's stomach. If he was here, it couldn't be for a good reason. She wrapped her arms around her middle as if she were trying to hide herself. She didn't reply. She only stared at him warily.

He took a step into the room.

"I'm sorry to intrude like this... but I've been trying to reach you for weeks."

Fuck.

"I can't receive owl post where I live," she said. She crossed her arms over her chest, took a breath. "How the f—" she bit down the swear, "How did you find me?"

"It really wasn't easy, if that's what you're worried about."

She only raised a brow, waiting for him to elaborate.

Harry inhaled. "I... found out from someone back home... that you were in Canada. I searched public records and papers all over the country, it took months, really, until I found an article in the school paper that mentioned a Cassiopeia Black. I wasn't too sure it would be you at all. But I could only make sure by coming here. So, here I am."

Shit. This wasn't good. If they'd had Harry on this for months, they meant business. It made her feel queasy... but a tiny part of her felt kind of smug that she had been Harry's job for months.

Cassiopeia stood then. Trying to present an unshakeable front. Even though she was fucking scared. "And... what was so important you went through all of that just to find me?"

Harry looked suddenly unsure. "I'd really rather do this in a better setting, but I'm afraid if I let you go now, you'll disappear again. So... what do you know about last year's Boxing Day Attacks in Salisbury?"

Cass did her best not to let any emotions show on her face. "I'm sorry but if this is official Auror business, I can't speak to you without the presence of a lawyer."

Harry nodded once. "I figured you would say that. But I need to talk to you about this. It's important, Malfoy. And I really would rather not have to chase you down again."

Cassiopeia had to think. She knew her rights. And she had to decide quickly if she was going to risk coming off cagey by asserting them. But it was an easy call, in all honesty. "I don't have to talk to you, or anyone, Potter. I know the law. So unless I have been charged with an actual crime in the UK and you have a Canadian official here to extradite me to the UK, kindly fuck off."

A muscle in Harry's jaw twitched. "You're right. You don't have to talk to me. I hoped that you would, because any information you might have on the case can help solve it. But I did come prepared on the off chance that you refused."

He reached into his pocket and handed her a piece of parchment. An order from the Canadian High Court—basically the Canadian Wizengamot—. With this, he could question her then and there and if she didn't cooperate, he basically had the right to arrest her.

Cassiopeia hated to admit it, even to herself, but he was good. "Time and place."

Harry looked unsure. "Tomorrow, ten o'clock. The Dancing Broom. We can walk to the office from there."

The Dancing Broom was a pub off Amber Place, the main wizarding street in the city. Cassiopeia knew of it but she had never been. She nodded once in agreement.

He gave her a hard stare. "But I need to know you will come, Malfoy, this is serious."

Cass rolled her eyes and held up the parchment in her hand. "I know that."

"Listen... we just want to talk. This doesn't have to be difficult. But if you... don't cooperate, it won't end well for you. You may be a free woman but don't forget you do have priors."

Cassiopeia's jaw clenched. She bit her tongue. As if she didn't fucking know that. She gave him a tight and very fake smile. "Of course. How could I forget, Scarface?"

Harry's eyes widened slightly at the jab. Cass's heart wasn't in it, but she couldn't help herself.

She stood up and Harry's eyes drifted over her figure.

She was wearing an off-the-shoulder champagne-coloured dress, with a low neckline and slit on the side. It was a bit revealing but Harry's eyes didn't linger. It was hard to figure out what he was thinking.

Cassiopeia motioned for him to get out, which he did. She followed after him, and he still looked unbelievably out of place here, in her university.

They were almost out of the building when Cass spotted one of her favourite professors, Darwish, walking right towards them.

"Ah, lovely Cassiopeia, I am delighted to see you," he said jovially once he reached her. He took both her hands in his. "My deepest congratulations to you, my dear, a very well-deserved Master's degree."

Cassiopeia smiled, squeezing his hand one final time before letting go. "Thank you, professor."

The man then turned his gaze to Harry. "And who's this?"

Ah, shit. He probably thought Harry was a relative or something. Someone close enough to her to attend her graduation. "Uh, this is Harry, an acquaintance from back home, he was just passing by, he's leaving now."

Professor Darwish smiled warmly at Harry and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, young man. Isn't Cassiopeia's work just exquisite? She just won the Gartwell Prize, did you know? We're all very proud of her here."

Cass appreciated her professor's praises, but she really wished he would stop.

Harry looked terribly awkward. "Right. Yes, of course. It's great."

After that unbearable moment, Harry finally left and Cass headed back to the ceremony, which somehow still had not ended.

Cass slipped into her seat and tried to pay attention to what the dean was saying but it was impossible to focus on anything other than what Harry had just said to her.

Cassiopeia remembered very clearly the headlines on the paper the day after the Boxing Day Attacks. 12 Injured in Apparent Anti-Muggle Attack. It happened on Boxing Day (hence the Boxing Day Attacks epithet), in Salisbury, a town not far from Malfoy Manor. Several buildings in the town's main street had partially collapsed as a direct result of magic, ten Muggles who had been inside those buildings had been injured to varying degrees, and two Muggle-born wizards had also been injured pretty badly.

It was widely believed from the start that the two Muggle-borns had been the targets of a hate crime. One of them died a month or so after the attacks, succumbing to his wounds. The other one had miraculously survived.

The case had provoked international outrage and was still pretty widely and continuously reported on in the news. The media went insane with everyone and their mothers writing op-eds about the safety of Muggle-borns in post-war Britain. Some of the pieces were more insightful than others. The Prophet honestly was letting anyone write for them these days.

Either way, the investigation had been ongoing for the past six months, and it didn't seem like a lot of progress had been made. The pressure to solve it must have been mounting. That was probably the whole reason why they were resorting to seeking Cassiopeia out in North America. Or at least that's what she told herself.

"Where the heck did you go?" Rye whispered into Cassiopeia's ear as she hugged her, once the ceremony was over and they found each other.

"Just needed some fresh air," Cass said with a dismissive wave.

Then Cass had to go around and let her aunts and uncles and cousins who had made it down to the university to watch her get her master's degree. It took a while for Cass to be thoroughly hugged, kissed, and congratulated by everyone and they all headed down to the nice restaurant where they had a reservation for dinner.

Cass really didn't feel like celebrating anymore, but she couldn't tell her family yet about what happened. They'd be beside themselves with worry. So, she had act like everything was totally fine.

It wasn't until much later, once they were at home, that Orion pressed again.

"Cass... come on. Something's off with you. Tell me, please. Or I'll go crazy," Rye tried to reason with Cass.

Cassiopeia sat back on her bad and continued to moisturize without paying her sister any mind. "It's nothing you should worry about, Orion. Go to bed."

Rye plopped down on the edge of the bed. "No. You never tell me anything and I hate it! Did something happen with mum?"

"Mum's fine."

Rye harrumphed. "Then what? I'm not a little kid anymore, and if you don't tell me then I'll just spend the whole night worrying over what's going on. You're not my mother, Cass, you're my sister, you don't have to protect me from things!"

Cass finally looked properly at her sister. Of course Rye thought she was being treated like a little kid. Cass had complained about the exact same thing at fourteen. And Cass was, in fact, not Rye's mother, nor did she want to be. Even though she'd been a parental figure to Rye for the past few years, Cass had tried her best to still somewhat retain the sister camaraderie in their relationship. Which was hard when they had to had serious talks, but Cass thought she'd done a good job so far in still being a sister.

Cassiopeia looked at her sister, who was not actually her sister by blood but still seemed so similar to her. Orion had not inherited the Malfoy blond hair, she had the dark hair of the Black family, but the hair was probably the biggest difference between the two girls. They both had narrow faces and sharp features, deep set eyes, and above average height. No one would've guessed they weren't actually sisters.

Cass's biggest fear and her first thought when she had found out she wasn't the daughter of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy had been about losing her sister. Rye had been the person Cass loved most in the world from the moment she was born. Cassiopeia knew she would always be there for her sister. And after being told they weren't actually sisters by blood, that hadn't changed Cass's feelings. Rye was still her little sister, and she would always protect her.

Orion had gone through a lot from a young age. As a young girl in the middle of a war, the adults around her had tried their best to shield her from the world. Cass could still recall so clearly in her mind, Orion sitting at the dining room table, asking Narcissa what's going on, what's wrong, is something bad going to happen. But their mother wasn't a very good liar and Rye wasn't stupid, she knew something was going on, something truly terrible.

So Cass had to be careful about what she was going to say.

"Come here," Cassiopeia tapped the spot on the bed next to her.

Orion climbed up and let Cass snuggled her into her side.

Cass let out a deep sigh. "Today... I heard from someone I hadn't heard from in a long time."

Orion frowned up at Cass, worry in her eyes.

"You remember how I know Harry Potter, don't you?"

Rye nodded. "Yeah, you used to talk about him all the time."

Brat. "Well, I don't know about all the time, but I once knew him well, you know that. And you know that we weren't always the best of friends."

Again, Rye nodded. Cass could sense she was getting impatient.

"But our relationship was often complicated," Cass said. And she could not believe she was saying all of this right now but her mouth kept moving. "For a long time we really didn't like each other... but then, around our Sixth Year, we were both going through some things and we just... formed an understanding and we became kind of... friendly. Then, due to outside circumstances that ended. I didn't really speak to him again until after the war, when I worked to help repair the Hogwarts castle. We argued some and we talked properly for the first time about everything that had happened between us. We tried to understand and to... forgive each other for the things we'd done... and maybe that way we could be friends again after all. But... there was just too much shit. Too much rubble to sift through. And we weren't ready to do it. Then I left and after that I didn't think I'd ever speak to him again...

"But today I got the chance to. He only got in touch to ask me about a case that's still open and he thought I might have information on. Nothing personal really... but I guess just... talking to him again brought back a lot of memories, and feelings, and it just made me think about all the things I never said to him."

Cassiopeia felt like a fucking genius. She had no idea how she had just interwoven the truth like that and managed to distract from the meat of it without outright lying. She deserved a medal for what had just come out of her mouth. Not a lie in sight, baby!

One of the nicest qualities of Orion had always been how she wore her heart on her sleeve. Just looking at her face, Cass knew Orion had bought the convoluted truth.

There was even a slight giggle in her voice, as Rye said, "Cass, are you trying to tell me you had a thing with Harry freaking Potter?"

Cassiopeia let out a pained laugh and squeezed her sister's head into her side. "I did not!" It was time to take it home, assure Rye there was absolutely nothing to worry about. "I mean... we sorta kissed like one time but that doesn't—"

Cassiopeia was cut off by the sound of her sister's screeching. "You kissed–you fucking kissed Harry Potter?"

Cass listened to Rye giggling and gushing over boys and kisses and she knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing. If Cassiopeia was going to do one thing right in her life, it would be protecting her sister.